


Spare him his life from this monstrosity

by charons_boat



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mutants, Eventual Happy Ending, Leaving Home, Lots of Desperation, fear and pain, has inspiration from jinho's bohemian rhapsody cover, he can make clones, jinho has clones, mentions of other people and references to some of my other wips, mentions of scars, mutant AU, mutant!jinho, vague mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:40:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27605741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charons_boat/pseuds/charons_boat
Summary: Pain. All I had known for the longest time was pain.It started when Jinnie killed a man in our house.
Relationships: Jo Jinho | Jino & Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Kudos: 2
Collections: WIP OLYMPICS: WINTER 2020/21





	Spare him his life from this monstrosity

**Author's Note:**

> pls enjoy this!
> 
> warning, mentions of blood, being cut, scars, broken bones, and murder
> 
> also, yes, wooseok's predicament is inspired by dr. bebe

Pain. All I had known for the longest time was pain.

* * *

_It started when Jinnie killed a man in our house. It had been quiet that day, a rare moment of peace that I'd wanted to savor. Jinnie and the others were scattered here and there about the house, lazing in the wake of my mother's absence. She hadn't known; we'd had to hide, and the others could only come out when she was off at work. The sky was perpetually dark as always, but the ever-present feeling of gloom had been lifted for some reason--we were all so happy that day. Jo-ee and JJ had been bickering back and forth, throwing popcorn that quickly fizzled out at each other. Joh was singing a Day6 song; Blood was one of our all-time favorites. Jay Aych and Hojin were, as soon became the norm, having little contests with each other, and Jinnie and I were sitting quietly as we listened to the contained chaos. It was nice, peaceful._

_And then Jinnie stood up. He walked to the door and opened it, his stuffed kitty held tightly in his hand. He-- _we_ \--were all so young, but even then, Jinnie had recognized the hostility in the man's eyes. Jinnie stared emotionlessly, his face entirely blank, as a gun appeared in his hand. The trigger fired and the man fell, clutching at the hole in his chest. He fell through the threshold, into our apartment, and Jinnie stared at the camera in front of our apartment. The gun had fallen to the floor as Jinnie dragged the man over to the railing, throwing the man over the edge, down to the street below. The plushie was stained with blood when he came back in and closed the door. In an instant, I was alone._

_It'd be me they looked for. No one could tell the difference between us. Mother wouldn't know until I was already gone. My backpack had weighed heavy with all the memories I packed away, yet it felt light with all the things I'd left behind. The note on the table explained all I could._

_"I killed a man, Momma." She couldn't know and wouldn't understand the truth, so the only thing left was to say it had been me. It'd looked like me on the recording, I know. "Momma, I've got to go. I can't be here anymore. They'll-- they'll leave you alone if I'm not here, right? So really, I'm protecting you like Dad did." She'd be angry at me for that, for saying that my father leaving had been to protect us. I knew it was though. He'd been something like me, something she couldn't understand or handle. He'd have taken me if he'd known. "Stay safe, Momma. Don't worry about me. I'll be just fine."_

_The ink had smudged where I'd dragged my hand over the strokes, where tears had fallen. I went as far away as I could, running from my mother and the man Jinnie killed._

* * *

"You're gonna run out of energy soon, kid. You won't be able to keep this up much longer!" I spit at the man and another version of myself rushes him, throwing out a fist. The man rolls away and goes to hit, but the clone is already behind him. The other men in the room fight off similar clones. He's no wrong, though. I can feel my eyes growing heavier as blood continues to drip down my fingers, falling to the floor like water from a leaky ceiling.

I can't help but sob as he drags another line into my skin. Scarlet blood wells up and pools down through the web of cuts, dripping down my arm as I cry out for help. I don't know how long it's been since I was brought here. I only know that it must be something like eternity.

* * *

_We were alone, so terribly alone. It was after Jinnie killed a man without giving him the chance to harm us first that I learned how much they could grow on their own. That day, they'd only begun to branch out. But, having been out and about for weeks as we traveled and wandered, scrounging for food that I could eat, they continued to grow and differ. It was tiring, having them out all the time, but I feared going mad if I were alone for too long. I was too desperate not to be alone. I learned their self-given names and their quirks, modeled after mine._

_We survived together. I was captured alone._

* * *

Time drags on, and fewer and fewer clones can appear. They're as energetic as ever, but I can feel my eyelids drooping and my heart rate slowing as my body tries to sleep. Someone slaps me, and the iron sting of a knife drags through my skin again. My arms are going to be crisscrossed with a mesh of scars if I ever escape this place--not that I can go anywhere with my legs broken.

* * *

_They'd been like my mother, not knowing what I could do. It had been almost too easy for me to manifest a clone outside the bars of my cell. Another appeared behind the guard, who saw the first clone and began to panic, thinking that I had escaped. The keys jingled as the clones returned with them, unlocking the door and then fading away. I ran, panicked and achy from whatever they'd used to knock me out, but they caught me again before I could leave the building. That was when the torture began as they tried to force me into obedience. Now that they knew, now that they understood, they were even more intent on making me join them._

* * *

I wake up to the sounds of fighting and the throbbing of my arm. Everything hurts. Everything is sore. My eyes feel swollen and my heart has gone numb, entirely unable to feel. _Will that last_ , I wonder. I hope not. It's been so long since I felt anything, it seems, and the last thing I recall really feeling was my shock and despair when Jinnie killed that man. Tears slip down my face, but I can barely feel them. The latticework of cuts on my forearm, like a vulgar, twisted version of lace, stings and weeps, a constant throb. They'd never made it higher than my elbow, had never moved to a different part of my body.

A door is flung open and clangs loudly against the wall. Light floods in, and I wince at the noise in my ears. Footsteps pour in, and the opened door unmuffles the skirmishing outside the dark, circular room. Really, though, there's not much fighting left to be done, it seems. Reflexively, I try to manifest a clone; all I get is a chubby baby I vaguely recognize as myself. The clone lets out anguished sobs before exploding in a silent puff of spun light and air.

"Was that a baby?" The voice is confused, doesn't sound like it belongs to any person in particular. I'm almost convinced I just heard someone's thoughts, but then someone else speaks too.

"It sounded like it. It's gone now, though."

"Well, where'd it go?"

"Doesn't matter. It looks like there's someone strapped to that chair!" People emerge from the darkness and light around me like trees from mist. Someone shines a flashlight in my eyes, and without thinking, I turn my head away, closing my eyes. The tears falling down my face leave sticky trails that crack as I scrunch up my cheeks. The flashlight moves a steady path down my body as the strangers take in all the cuts on my arm. "Holy..." The voice sounds stunned and mournful all at ones.

"Fuck," someone else breathes. The strange voices unlock something in my heart; out of nowhere, everything crashes over me and I take a few shuddering breaths before tears start streaming down my face again. I break into anguished sobs, and I collapse the moment they pull me out of the chair. My fingers scrabble uselessly at the concrete as I try and fail to manifest the clones again. Their forms are all young, not identical to the me of now. Memories swirl around me, chaos upon heartache, and I lean over further, covering my ears as I rest my forehead against the ground. A gentle hand rubs up and down my back, just like my mother used to do when I was young.

"Momma?" My voice is a trembling whimper, a pathetic noise that makes me feel all too small. The voice that responds is full of heartbreak.

"I'm sorry." _Sorry I'm not what you want or need. Sorry I'm not the person you want._ Someone helps me sit up, lets me lean against them as I sob. I raise shaking hands to cover my face, and I can just barely glimpse the watery red on my hands. So it hadn't quite been tears earlier, then. My sobs are ragged as I unapologetically bury my face in the stranger's clothes. The material is weird, but I can't find the space to care. Their arms are gentle as they pick me up, cradling me in their arms like a parent taking their crying child back to the house. I'm out like a light before we leave the building.

* * *

It's in my nature to try and run, now. I've gone dozens of different ways at various times of the day, but no matter what I do, Jihoon always finds me. He explained it once, said everyone had a unique signature that he can recognize and track, that everything aside from the unique signatures was muted. Unceasingly, I was caught every time. This time is no different.

"Jinho, you can come down from that tree now," he calls up patiently. Out of curiosity and spite, I let Hojin drop down instead of me. "Jinho, I know this isn't you. His signature is a bit different than yours!" I sigh and cross my arms. JJ drops down next, just because he likes making friends. A glance down shows that Hojin has already manifested different clothes for himself: a pair of ripped jeans and a black leather jacket over the shirt I was wearing. JJ is in grey sweatpants and a baggy shirt by the time he hits the ground. He stumbles and falls over, but he grins up at Jihoon regardless. "Just how many different clones have you got, Jinho? Their signatures aren't very different, but they aren't identical to yours or each others."

"Yeah," Hojin says. He glances up at me, his dark eyes lined with darker makeup, most of it smudged and indistinct. I give him a thumbs up before he looks back at Jinho. "There're six of us not counting Jinho. Jinho's the main, but just because we're clones doesn't mean we're all exactly the same. For example, Jinho is kind of a massive coward and the rest of us are not." JJ falls back into the grass with his arms spread out, smiling up at me when he catches sight of my huddled up form. He waves and keeps that stupid, happy-go-lucky grin on his face. They've gotten faster at differentiating; I know I'd never have such an optimistic smile on my face.

"Why do you keep running, Jinho? We aren't going to hurt you." Jihoon sounds genuinely confused. I glance at the bandages wrapped around my forearm, quickly looking away from the little splotches of red where the cuts have begun to bleed again. My arm is starting to ache.

"Hojin already told you," I mutter. I pull my knees tighter to my chest, wobbling a bit on the slender branch. I hadn't really picked the best tree to climb. "I'm a coward. I ran from home, I ran from strangers, I tried to run from..." I bury my face in my knees as I sigh heavily. I doubt Jihoon can hear my muffled voice anymore. "And I'm running now. How _stupid_ is it that I'm scared of people?" The sigh Jihoon lets out sounds gentle and fond.

"Oh, Jinho..." he murmurs. He laughs lightly, and it's carried away by the wind. Jinnie appears on the branch in front of me, taking in my wet eyes. I carefully hand him the bloodstained kitty plush I always carry with me, whether the little thing is in my backpack or shoved into a pocket. He pulls on a lavender hoodie before handing me a beanie of the same color. His messy, curly hair is softer than mine as I help him put it on. He drops from the branch after I hand him the kitty. He stands there, stares silently at Jihoon, who looks shocked by the addition of yet another version of myself.

"Keep talking," Jinnie says. His eyes are intense despite his soft, quiet voice. His voice is like the feeling of feathers against skin. "But don't make fun of Jinho." If Jihoon had answered by saying something like, "I wasn't making fun of him," Jinnie would've scowled more and found more cause to dislike Jihoon. He only nods before speaking, though.

"Most mutants are scared of people. Our kind are most often killed if we're found; either that, or we're experimented on or tortured. We're discriminated against and hated because we're different. It's not stupid that you're scared of people, Jinho. I am too," he says earnestly. He sounds so heartfelt and genuine that I drop from the tree. My arm is throbbing now, on the verge of really starting to bleed. Jihoon doesn't ask why I've got my arm pressed to my chest, but surely he can see the red bleeding through the bandages.

"Really," I ask, barely daring to breathe as I ask. He nods, a kind smile on his face. He's about the same age as me, but seems much older. It hasn't really sunk in yet that he's strange like me: the word "mutant" had been something new, something I'd never heard of, but once they explained it to me, it'd made sense. We aren't even like the "superheroes" in comic books that get powers from radioactive spiders and toxic waste. Our powers are something irreversible, something we're born with. We end up more stable, but it's harder for us in the beginning. If we aren't found right at the beginning, we can learn to blend into the crowd and hide ourselves away.

"Really," he murmurs, the affirmation warm but sad. "Even Hui and Seungcheol and Soonyoung are scared, Jinho." That statement shocks me, and I stand stock-still for a moment. It's unfathomable to me that even our teachers are scared like us. Seungcheol especially always seems so confident and assured that it doesn't make sense that he has fears.

"Then... but if you aren't going to hurt me, then why do you keep... chasing me?" Jinnie comes up and hugs me, the plushie pressed over my heart. JJ's gotten bubblegum from somewhere; the quiet noise of his bubbles popping fades into another bit of scenery. Hojin sits in the grass next to JJ, painting his fingernails solid black.

"You're hurt," Jihoon says easily. He reaches a hand out to me, and I take it reluctantly. "We wanna make sure you're healed before you leave, Jinho. Obviously, we know you can take care of yourself. You nearly got yourself outta there, and for someone without formal training at your age... that's almost unfathomable. We'd get you out of here soon, but we don't have any healers right now. It's surprisingly hard to come by. So, we're doing out best for you to make sure you're okay before you go. We want the best for you." With that, tears fall from my eyes, and Jihoon quietly leads me back to the massive house. It's old and has dozens of rooms, nearly a hundred. There are few enough students that everyone gets their own room. Mine is shared amongst seven, though the other six can manifest whatever they want unlike me. It's unfair that they won't explain it to me because I know I'd be able to do it if they explained.

Halfway between the house and the forest, I ask another question. "What happens when I leave?" I can't help the way I sound so timid, so afraid of everything. Jihoon looks back at me and smiles. It's like staring at the moon, bright and dazzling but not blinding.

"We'll help you. We'll protect you and get you a house and a job. We don't let anyone suffer once they've been through this place, not if we can help it."

* * *

It's confusing when Jinho decides to stay. Up until the moment when he barged into Seungchol's office and declared, "You're not getting rid of me!" with a desperate, almost crazed look in his eyes, he'd seemed adamant about leaving the school. When I ask him later, he insists it was only because he didn't want to have to hide his clones. I could see the radiant joy on his face when Seungcheol said, "Of course we aren't, Jinho. You've always got a place here."

The most confusing part of Jinho staying, though, wasn't the reason. It was the aftermath: having seven different versions of one person walking around is confusing and difficult for everyone at first, even me. Their signatures differ only slightly; JJ's is more grey and excited than Jinnie's, who is swathed in pastels and stained at the edges by blood. Jay Aych's is wild and unrestrained, while Hojin's presses right into your face no matter what. Joh's and Jo-ee's are both bright, but Joh's has a melodical tint while Jo-ee's vibrates with unheard laughter. Jinho is... Jinho's signature is a little fractured and very sad, but it's slowly been growing brighter, day by day, week by week.

One of the seven starts descending the stairs, and I take a glance at the signature surrounding this one. He'd pulled them back recently, so there's not much difference yet. My mutation gives me nothing, so I try to base it off appearance. Unfortunately, today must be one of those days where they purposely try to fool everyone. The possible clone smiles at me and says, "Hey, Jihoon."

"Oh, hey, uh..." I fumble for a name and spit out, "JJ?" He smiles good naturedly and shakes his head.

"Close," he exclaims cheerily. Well, that's a given considering they're clones. He doesn't tell me which one he is. The next one I see is Jinho-- _has to be Jinho_ \--because it's one of the classes we share. He waves shyly as I sit next to him. It's been a long time since he was in school, but he's smart and picks up new things quickly. It hadn't taken him long to catch up.

"Hey, Jinho," I call softly. He makes a questioning noise and looks at me. I can tell now that it's actually Jinho because of his doodles. "Uhm, who went down the stairs just now?" He scrunches his face as he focuses on his drawing before looking back up at me. He's got graphite smeared on the side of his hand. I can see the rough sketch of a wilting daisy on the creamy white paper, and the very faint outlines of what might be blood or dew bead on the petals.

"Oh, that was Jinnie. He's quiet, but he likes you, so, y'know." He shrugs and goes back to his drawing.

"Know what?" Jinho laughs; he doesn't laugh often, and it's wonderful to hear.

"He actually talks to you. He doesn't say much of anything to anyone, not even us." I know Jinho is referring to himself and the other five clones when he says _us_. "I mean, he's protective and didn't like you at first, but that's only because he-- anyways," he cuts off suddenly, giving a feeble half-cough as an excuse for the sudden break. "But, uhm, yeah! Jinnie thinks you're cool now." I nod silently before another thought occurs to me.

"Hey, Jinho." He hums in acknowledgement and keeps drawing. The petals stay faintly outlined, maybe to show their lighter color, but the stem and the leaves are drawn smooth and sturdy. "Why would Jinnie have blood in his signature? He's like the softest, least threatening person I've ever met." The brunet freezes almost instantly. It's Jinho's voice that answers, but it comes from behind me, right next to my ear, and Jinho is still in his seat.

"Jinnie has killed people. More than I--"

"Shut up, Jay," Jinho mutters quietly. His brow is furrowed and his eyes have darkened as his grip on the pencil grows tighter. He starts in on the droplets on the petals, perfectly round aside from the places where the droplets cling to the velvety flesh. The way he draws them makes the splatter look like stains, makes the droplets look like blood. The clones walks out from behind me, his hands folded innocently behind his back; as he passes, I can see the pocket knife held loosely in his hand. He turns and gives us a wide grin, his left eye already beginning to lighten and change color. It'll take a few days to really show that they aren't the same color. One of the others walks past, whistling a Day6 song. Jay leaves and follows Joh, the same shit-eating grin on his face. Jinho only relaxes when Jay Aych is gone, setting the pencil down and burying his face in his hands. "Goddammit." I almost can't hear the breathy whisper. I don't ask him about what Jay had meant by saying that.

Class is boring, dragging on for what feels like forever. Jinho keeps on doodling, adding more bloodstained flowers to his page. Jinho doodles in most every class we've got together, always keeping his work to do after classes have officially ended for the day so he can go to tutoring if he needs it and ask me for help without disturbing everyone else. Just before the lunch bell rings, I turn and ask, "Do you wanna eat lunch with me and my friends today?" He pauses and looks at me, haze curious and cautious.

"Could the others..." He doesn't finish the question, but I nod because I know what he's going to ask.

"Yeah. I don't have many friends, so our table has plenty of room." He grins, wide and unabashed. He turns back to his drawing and nods after a second. I watch him continue to draw, filling the page with flowers. As the bell rings, he hands the drawing to me. I carefully slide it into a folder with other drawings he's given me, fully intending to stare at it for hours later tonight. Jinho draws the best flowers I've ever seen. He's one of the best artists I've ever met, period. Jinho finds me in my room a few minutes later, his backpack already stowed in his own room. He's still grinning as he stands somewhat awkwardly in the empty doorway. We walk side-by-side as he tells me about his day and I him. It's only as we draw closer that he begins to fidget and get nervous again. Before I can say anything, he dashes off and says something to one of his clones. He runs back as I watch a jacket appear on the clone, dark makeup intensifying Hojin's gaze. Jinho fidgets for a few seconds before glancing at me.

"I uh, asked Hojin to go get the others and try to look different. Jo-ee suggested we try to mess with people today, which is why--"

"I figured that you guys were trying to do that when I saw Jinnie on the stairs earlier. I don't quite know all of you well enough to differentiate so soon after they're manifested." Jinho nods, blushing heavily as we walk into the lunch line. "Uhm, the clones can just, like, make clothes and... weapons like when you manifest them, right? Why don't you do that?" His eyes widen and he stops for a moment.

"I-- I never thought of it like that. I actually don't know how to do it 'cause they won't explain, but--" he cuts himself off, furrowing his eyebrows as he concentrates on his hand. A flower fades into existence on his hand. He hands me the pure white daisy a second later, smiling exuberantly. It's been a struggle to get him this far, to start hearing his laughter and seeing his smile. He doesn't hide the latticework of thin scars traveling up his right arm, but I know he doesn't like it either. It's become a habit for him to run his fingers over them, light touches playing over the net-like pattern. Jinho, so happy as he is now, is a treasure. He's become something that's insanely precious to me.

* * *

In the days leading up to Jinho's first mission, we all train nonstop. We get a rare excused absence from our classes as Seungcheol and Hui drill us. Jinho's clones all show a natural talent for fighting, while Jinho is much more... timid. Even JJ fights, though it's uncoordinated and quite reminiscent of the way boys fight in high school: clunky and awkward, but still surprisingly powerful. However, he undoubtedly works hard, trying to improve with just about every weapon under the sun; since he's learned how to manifest things, he's taken to researching weapons and their construction so he can use them. It's almost scary how accurate his aim is, whether it's with a gun or a thrown blade.

The day of, everyone wakes up excited and nervous. Jinho can barely eat anything, but I quietly insist that he eat something before we leave. I'm only tagging along as an emergency escape plan, making sure we've got everyone before leaving should an escape be deemed necessary. Jinho and the rest of the team pour out of the van, quickly infiltrating the nondescript building. Within a few minutes, Kevin starts giggling. He reaches out and grabs my hand, and it takes me a moment to realize what he was laughing at: the image of Jo-ee eating popcorn off to the side while Jinho and the rest fight brings a helpless smile to my lips. Joh sings _I Like You_ as he whirls back and forth, fast as lightning. He treats the fight as a game, like Jo-ee does. Time and time again, Hojin dashes off to take hits for someone else, usually JJ or Jinnie, both of which stare with wide eyes. Jinnie snaps out of it eventually, brandishing an old western style pistol as he fires something that doesn't quite look like a metal bullet. Jinho, in the face of danger, becomes sharp as a knife. He seems to be everywhere, an unstoppable force. By the time he comes to a stop at the end of the hall, his clothes are bloodstained and cling to his skin in places.

Jinho walks almost proudly through the door on his left, greeting the terrified boy with a kind smile. Jung Wooseok's mutation had manifested recently, the torn, ragged wings on his back mirroring Donghyuck's feathery, angelic ones in a very tragic way. Wooseok's wings look more like the leathery wings of a bat or a dragon, their natural lay folding in places where the delicate bones have been broken. Wooseok himself looks like he's been living a nightmare, with cuts and bruises all over his arms and torso. There's some white cloth wrapped around the boy's head, knotted at the back and stained with dark blood. The man behind him looks anxious and has a knife held awkwardly over Wooseok's heart. The tip of it digs in slightly, a trail of vibrant red trickling down Wooseok's chest; it looks black in the low light.

"I think it's best that you get away from him," Jinho murmurs lowly. The boy trembles slightly, and the man shakes like a leaf in the wind. Jinho must look like a demon, surrounded by his doubles and covered in blood. The man suddenly collapses, the knife tumbling from his grip. Jinho starts forward and kneels in front of the boy while Hojin unknots the fabric. Wooseok is young and his face is bloodied and beaten, but there are traces of features that'll be handsome once he grows up. His big eyes stare at Jinho, tears welling up. The moment the ropes are undone, Wooseok throws himself forward, sobbing out thank you's. Jinho picks up the lanky teenager and carries him from the little house. The other members of the team continue searching for the other two boys who'd been brought with Wooseok.

The van door opens and Kevin lets go of my hand. The other versions of Jinho are gone now, presumably to avoid overwhelming the frightened boy. "I'm Jinho," the brunet whispers quietly. The boy stares at him, tears still tracking down his face. Jinho pulls out a damp towel--he'd likely "taken it from his pocket" after manifesting it in his hand to avoid spooking Wooseok, as with pulling the clones back--and gently wipes Wooseok's face clean as he continues to talk. "The guy in the corner is Kevin, and the noiret with the glasses is Jihoon. I'm happy to have met you, even if it was in conditions such as this." The boy nods, thankful. He sits with his head slightly bowed and his hands between his knees, though he lets Jinho move his face around to clean it.

"Do you guys have--" Wooseok's quiet, timid question cuts off with a sudden cough. "Uhm. Have you guys got any... stuffed animals?" Jinho smiles kindly at the boy and very softly asks what kind he wants. When Jinho gives him the squishy frog, Wooseok's face bursts into an overjoyed smile. "Thank you, Jinho. Thanks for saving me." Wooseok's wings fold awkwardly against his back as he hugs the frog to his chest, squeezing the life out of it. Jinho beams at him as he responds.

"Of course I saved you, Wooseok. I'll always save you."

**Author's Note:**

> find me on twt @sunwooseok_ if you wanna yell at me for giving wooseokie wings but breaking them before he could fly


End file.
